by Chris Babu
Drayden crab-crawled along the platform to Catrice. “Catrice…I’m here. Your…breathing will…slow…down…in a minute.” He placed his hand on her shoulder.
She gawked at him with wild, frightful eyes. Her chest expanded and contracted at an alarming pace, her frantic breaths escaping through blue lips and chattering teeth. She nodded.
The pool splashed behind them. Sidney popped up from under the water and swam to the platform ledge, out of breath. “I did…the test run anyway. There…are…three passageways. The…middle one…is blocked. We…take…the right…one. About…twenty-five feet in, you can…go up…for air. There’s…a small…air pocket. That’s as far…as I could go.” Her lips had turned blue, and the color was drained from her face.
“Thanks, Sid,” Drayden said.
Catrice gripped the platform so tight her fingertips turned white.
In between his teeth chattering, Drayden said, “Catrice, you need to…feel what…it’s like…going under water. As long as…your mouth…stays…closed, and you…don’t breathe in…you’re fine. D-Don’t…panic.”
After closing her eyes, Catrice submerged down to her neck, still clutching the platform. She inhaled a deep breath and dunked her head. A second later, she shot back up, frantically wiping the water from her face. A pink cloud expanded in the water from the dried blood in her hair.
“That’s it,” Drayden said encouragingly. Frozen or not, she needed to practice once with Charlie. “Charlie! Come…get…Catrice. Quick test run.”
Charlie swam over. He treaded water with his back to Catrice. “Okay, sweetheart, you’re…going to wrap your…legs…around my waist, locking…them…together. And your arms…around…my chest. I’ll tell you…when I’m going to go…under. We’ll do it…for just a few seconds.”
“Catrice,” Drayden said, “take…a big breath in…before you go under. Whatever…you do…resist the urge…to breathe…underwater. You…have to…stay relaxed.”
Weeping, Catrice nodded. She climbed on Charlie’s back, wrapping herself around him like a baby monkey on its mother. She pressed her cheek against his back and closed her eyes. Charlie swam a few feet into the pool, wearing Catrice like a backpack.
“Okay, Catrice,” Charlie said, panting. “On three. One…two…three…now!” They dunked, swam underwater for five seconds, and zoomed up beside the platform edge. Catrice gasped for air, pawing at her eyes.
“That’s it,” Drayden said, forcing a smile. “You…did it! Nice job.”
“You all right, Catrice?” Charlie asked.
“Yeah,” she whispered.
Charlie’s going to save her life. Shaking his head, Drayden pushed aside his stupid jealousy. Who cared if he looked like freaking Poseidon in the water? She wouldn’t survive this challenge without Charlie.
“You guys,” Sidney said, “we have…to go. Now. It’s…so cold. I can’t…take it. You can…follow me. But I can’t…wait anymore.”
Even in the dead of winter with no jacket, Drayden hadn’t experienced cold like this. It penetrated his internal organs, freezing him to the core. This test wasn’t quite as obviously designed to kill like the bomb was, but it was just as deadly. They could easily drown. He was sure now the Bureau was out to kill them. The real question was, why had they left even a sliver of chance for survival?
Drayden groaned, in frustration, in anger, in pain. He was too cold to think straight. Deadened and numb, his limbs refused to move on command. Shivering uncontrollably, he switched on his flashlight after a few attempts. He would go last, as Tim would, following Catrice in case she needed him.
“Ready?” Sidney asked. She sucked in a deep breath and dunked under, rocketed off the near wall underwater, and disappeared under the darkness of the platform. Alex followed. Charlie and Catrice inhaled deeply and dove under after him.
Drayden took three short breaths in rapid succession, followed by one enormous breath. He submerged and launched off the platform underwater to gain some momentum, shining his flashlight ahead.
The frigid water shot knives into his eyes. It felt as if someone were pounding a nail into his back wound. The blurry figure of Charlie and Catrice kicked in front of him before the water turned pitch black. His flashlight beam provided the only light. Thankfully, the ceiling—the underside of the platform—was white, making it easily visible when he pointed his flashlight up. He was still beneath it. He kicked and pumped with his free hand, blowing some air out of his lungs.
How much farther to the air pocket? His oxygen already running low, he started to panic. He needed to breathe! His chest began to ache. He swam with urgency, using both arms to propel him.
I need to take a breath! Fight it!
He kicked harder with heavy legs, aiming his flashlight forward.
Legs dangled five feet ahead.
Push!
He pointed his flashlight up.
No ceiling!
Drayden shot up and thrust his head out of the water. He sucked in a loud breath, gasping for air. Each chilly breath diminished the pain in his lungs.
The flashlights illuminated the confined space enough to reveal everyone’s pale faces, blue lips, chattering teeth, and frightened eyes. Breathing heavily, they bobbed up and down in a tiny underwater room. It was like a cave, the ceiling a mere foot above their heads. Catrice quaked on Charlie’s back, but she’d survived.
“I don’t know…where to…go next,” Sidney said, her voice echoing in the restricted chamber. “You can…follow me, but we’re kind of…on our own now.”
She took two deep breaths and disappeared below. Alex eyed Drayden, then Charlie. “I’m not ready yet. You go.”
“Catrice, you ready?” Charlie asked. “On three. One, two, three.” She closed her eyes and squeezed Charlie tight. Her cheeks puffed out and they submerged.
Alex followed them.
You can do this, Drayden encouraged himself. His mother had probably suffered much worse. He had to reach the Palace. He breathed in as much as he could, held it, and dove under.
Darkness.
His flashlight revealed legs kicking ten feet in front of him. Within a second he was tangled in those legs.
What the hell?
Whoever it was kicked him in the head as they swam away. It didn’t hurt, but it disrupted his breath-holding. He checked up.
Ceiling.
He pointed the flashlight straight ahead. His lungs began to ache. Already? His stinging eyes bulged at the sight ahead.
A wall divided the pool, forcing them right or left. Whoever swam in front of him chose left, though other legs kicked right.
Which way? Panic set in. He was going to run out of air! Left. After veering left, Drayden shined the flashlight ahead.
The kicking legs, formerly in front of him, were now out of sight, but the water became lighter. The exit must be near.
Drayden’s oxygen was running low, and the urge to take a breath grew exponentially. How much longer could he hold on? It was too far to return to the air pocket now. He kicked frantically with his legs.
A wall, directly in front of him, blocked his path. Could it be the exit?
He pointed his flashlight up.
Ceiling!
Drayden was trapped. He looked right.
Light! Twenty feet away. The water glowed much brighter.
He pumped and kicked, his wooden limbs resisting. Don’t breathe. Don’t breathe!
Ten feet.
A hand! Reaching down into the water. No ceiling there!
Fire burned in his lungs. Black spots swarmed his vision. His numb arms and legs became concrete, barely working now.
Swim dammit!
He couldn’t move.
Five feet. He wasn’t going to make it. He couldn’t hold out any longer. His consciousness faded.
No! Don’t!
Pain exploded in his chest. A pain he’d never experienced—a burning like a hundred red-hot irons shoved down his throat.
The world turned black.
CHAPTER 17
Drayden was hanging over someone’s lap, on his stomach, coughing up water. He thought he might cough up a lung, but he couldn’t stop. Could you cough to death?
Someone pounded on his back. “There you go. Get all that out.” It was Sidney’s voice.
I’m alive.
Drayden continued to hack. A small puddle of water on the ground beneath him reflected his sickly face. And was that…bile? He must have thrown up. His mind began to clear. “I’m…I’m f-freezing.”
Catrice knelt beside him. Still in her underwear, dripping wet, she wrapped her arms around her shivering body. “Thank God you’re okay,” she said through blue lips. “We thought we lost you.”
Drayden rolled off Sidney’s lap. “What happened?”
“You were the last one in the water,” Sidney said. “You’d almost made it, and then you just stopped swimming. You passed out. I guess you took a breath underwater. Charlie and I dove in and dragged you out.”
He knelt next to Sidney and gazed into her warm eyes. “Sid, thank you. I don’t even know what to say.” Without thinking, he kissed her on the cheek and hugged her. Again, she was there for him.
Sidney held him close. “You’re welcome. If it wasn’t for you, we’d be exiled already.” She pulled back and rested her hand on his cheek.
Her affectionate touch made Drayden think of Catrice and he turned to her. “Catrice, thank God you made it. You’d never been in the water before, and you made it. That’s incredible. Congratulations.”
Congratulating her sounded stupid, but it just came out.
She nodded. “Thanks. That was terrifying. I was about a second away from taking a breath. Charlie saved my life. So did you.” She scooted closer. “Thank you for watching out for me.”
“You’re welcome,” Drayden said, wondering if caring was enough, because he wasn’t strong enough to actually save her. “Speaking of Charlie, where are those two flunks? I suppose I can’t call Charlie a flunk anymore, considering he saved my life, and yours, in the span of a few minutes. I need to thank him.”
“They went to collect the backpacks.” Sidney craned her neck and squinted to glimpse down the platform. “Should be back by now.”
Charlie and Alex emerged at the end of the platform, fully dressed, and headed toward them. Charlie wore one backpack and carried three, while Alex wore one. His own, of course.
Charlie set Sidney’s backpack in front of her. “How you feeling, chief?” he asked Drayden. “You were deader than a baby gazelle in a lion’s mouth.”
Drayden stood. “Charlie, thank you for saving my life. I can’t imagine you and Sid jumping back into that freezing water once you were out.”
“Don’t go getting all sentimental there, Dorothy,” Alex interjected. “We need you to finish the Initiation. I don’t think you and Charlie are gonna be roommates anytime soon.”
Charlie cracked up. “Ah, you’re welcome, Dray. You’ve saved us a few times too. Charlie doesn’t forget that.” Charlie set Catrice’s backpack down, pulled his sweatshirt out of his, and draped it over her shoulders. It was so big it looked like a dress.
She snuggled inside it. “You’re the best, Charlie.”
Charlie dropped Drayden’s backpack in front of him and patted him on the shoulder as he passed by.
Between the time it took to regain consciousness, cough up a lung, throw up, and lay on Sidney’s lap, Drayden had mostly air dried. Still chilled, he itched to get dressed, but he needed fresh bandages on his various wounds. Thankfully, the pool had washed most of the blood off everyone, and they no longer resembled murder victims. While he treated his rat wounds himself, he needed a hand with his back and head. Sidney read his mind. “Can I help you with your other cuts?”
“Yes, please. Thanks, Sid.”
As she applied his bandages, she whispered in his ear, “Your nerdy girlfriend over there seems to be getting pretty close to Charlie, by the way.”
“Really?” Drayden asked, his temperature rising. “She’s not my girlfriend, though. And yes, she is nerdy.”
“She totally is. She’s a total dork.” Sidney snortled. “But yeah, you should have seen them when they got out of the water.”
Drayden’s heart sank. “I mean, Charlie had just saved her life and all. She was probably pretty happy.”
“Yeah, well. Whatever,” Sidney said.
He didn’t want to hear any more. As soon as Sidney wrapped up, he dressed as expeditiously as he could. The coldness penetrated his core, to his bones, and it was tough to warm up again. The clothes helped, even with wet underwear. He was the last to dress. “Everyone ready?”
“We’ve been ready,” Alex said.
“Well,” Drayden said, “you did get a head start when you got dressed and had a snack before returning everyone else’s backpacks.”
“Well,” Alex said, mocking him, “not all of us were busy dying on the platform.”
“Shut up, Alex,” Sidney said. “If you drowned nobody would have rescued you.”
“Thanks for your expert opinion, Sidney. Good thing you’re here. But you’re forgetting someone.” He pointed at Charlie.
Drayden shook his head. He led the group across the platform and down the stairs to the tracks. He had the urge to make obscene gestures at the hidden cameras. They’d survived another deadly challenge. Were the Watchers getting nervous?
The tracks ran straight for an extended stretch. Houston Street, the upcoming stop on the One Line, shined in the distance.
Though Drayden had completed over half the Initiation, he wasn’t sure how much more of this could he endure. While the physical exhaustion and damage showed all over his body, the mental exhaustion had taken its toll as well.
Even so, he’d absorbed the best the Bureau could throw at him. Maybe Mr. Kale was right. People didn’t normally feel brave, and Drayden definitely didn’t. When you needed it though, you would find it was there. What did he have left to fear? He’d nearly died twice. Yet he survived. His body screamed in pain, from his ankle to his head. But he was still moving, still advancing. It was almost enough to be convincing.
Except, he was Drayden, full of self-doubt by nature. Hadn’t he simply been lucky? Despite the fact that Tim was far braver, he’d died. Since the difficulty level of the challenges had steadily increased, what would be coming up? He didn’t want to think about it. He hated the Bureau for their depravity, and was devastated about Tim. He was also purely worn out. He needed to savor these few minutes of peace.
Drayden thought about the girls. While he knew he should be concentrating on the Initiation, he couldn’t erase the image now burned into his retinas of Catrice and Sidney in their underwear. Like when you looked at the sun too long, whenever he closed his eyes, he saw their bodies. But they’d seen his too. So what if he wasn’t manly like Charlie, or even Tim? Strength was more than the size of his muscles. Why should he have to worry about impressing them anyway? Who were they? He stopped himself and pushed the negativity away. That kind of attitude would get him nowhere, with them, or in this godawful test. He did allow himself a moment to acknowledge that two girls seemed to like him. It was exciting and new. A small spark had ignited between him and Catrice after the rat challenge.
Still, he might have been focused on the wrong girl. Sidney consistently showed obvious interest and genuine concern for him. Following any injury, she cared for him, even before herself. She always defended him. She had saved his life even. What if the truth had been staring him in the face all along, but his stubborn crush on Catrice had blinded him? Wasn’t his crush somewhat superficial? Before today, all he knew about Catr
ice was she was beautiful and smart.
Maybe since he’d decided ages ago that he desired Catrice before he honestly knew her, he’d grown complacent. He’d assumed he knew what he wanted. It was like a little kid who decided to become an electrician when he grew up because he thought it sounded cool. He navigated all his schooling with his career objective in mind. But during his first week on the job, he discovered he didn’t like wires so much. He never put much thought into the original goal, and was too naive to make such a decision anyway. Knowing what he wanted offered a sense of comfort though, rather than the uncertain reality of life. He clung to it, despite mounting evidence to the contrary, until it was no longer tenable. Was he not at that point with Sidney and Catrice?
The elephant in the room, however, loomed large. Catrice probably had a shot to be selected for the Palace, and Sidney most likely didn’t. Catrice was incredible on the intellectual challenges while Sidney was weak. The opposite was true on the bravery challenges. Sidney was so strong, and skilled. Which trait did the Bureau weigh more? Value more?
Wesley might have captured the essence of that question when he’d encouraged Drayden to enter the Initiation. He said anyone could do the bravery challenges. Completing them at all signified a person displayed the requisite bravery. Everyone had technically passed them, including Catrice. Performing well on them was more about physical ability than bravery. But on the intelligence challenges, some kids simply couldn’t do them. The Bureau was scrutinizing them and knew who solved the brainteasers and who didn’t.
Assuming Drayden himself was invited to move to the Palace, Catrice was more likely to join him than Sidney. Then again, did he even still have a shot at the Palace? He’d been weak in the bravery challenges, cowering in fear at each one. Sidney and Charlie weren’t just more physically skilled, they’d been braver, another reason he needed to step up on the upcoming challenges. The Bureau might select only one person.
“Station ahead,” Charlie said from behind without his usual gusto. “For the love of God.”
